Category: Nostalgia

Culture Messaging Service Nostalgia Toys Watercooler

The Casio Secret Sender JD-6000 was the *original* messaging gadget

sudshr47 September 26, 2018

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Poor ’90s tweens! They never used Facebook Messenger. They couldn’t text people from their iPhones, they couldn’t add GIFs to their WhatsApp messages, and they were far too young for any Twitter DMs. 

Somehow, they survived. And a lucky few of them even had access to one of the most sophisticated pieces of messaging technology to come out of the mid-’90s: The Casio Secret Sender JD-6000.

This tiny purple toy, marketed to tween girls, is the messaging app’s true digital ancestor.

If you’re an Xennial like me, you might remember  Casio My Magic Diary, an “electronic organizer” that premiered in 1993. At the time of its release, the Magic Diary was the height of technology. It had software that could store phone numbers and addresses, report local times from across the world, function as a calculator, record friends’ birthdays, log diary entries, give users their horoscopes, and even allow them to “design” digital faces — ideally of their crushes <3 <3 <3. Read more…

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Bill Clinton Culture George H.W. Bush Nostalgia Viral

8 pre-internet political moments that would have spawned huge memes

sudshr47 September 13, 2018

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Believe it or not, there’s a storied history of presidential blunders that stretch back years and years, all the way to before they could become instant memes — because there was no internet.  

Shocking, but true.

These moments were “viral” in that they were everywhere — TV, radio, newspapers — but there was no widespread internet to give them a second life as pure meme bliss, like just about everything that happens in the Trump White House these days.

So what moments would go super viral, saturating our culture to the point you can’t get away, if they happened today? You know, like the “Dean scream” or when Dick Cheney shot a friend in the face?  Read more…

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Culture Delia S Nostalgia Watercooler Web Culture

dELiA*s may a thing of the past, but its aesthetic is stronger than ever

sudshr47 September 3, 2018

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sOMe tRenDs nEvEr dIe – ThEy jUsT reTuRn iN dIffErEnt fOrM.

Case in point: Delia’s (stylized on its catalog cover as dELiA*s.) More than once, the internet has mourned the loss of the teen girl clothing store with the erratically capitalized name and its incredible catalog. 

Every few years or so, someone announces the brand’s death, only for the brand to reemerge in some diminished form onlineIts slow death began in 2014, and extended to 2015.  Even now, the brand continues to hang on with a simple site. And yet the nostalgia keeps flowingThe eulogies are extensive and exhausting. Read more…

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Culture Jimmy Carter Nostalgia Politics Sweaters

This country needs Jimmy Carter’s impeccable cardigan collection now more than ever

sudshr47 July 30, 2018

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Like many of you, I’m feeling nostalgic for certain parts of America’s political past: checks and balances, leaders who could spell, and President Jimmy Carter.

Don’t @me with all of your “But Jimmy Carter wasn’t a good president” defenses. I took AP U.S. History too, and I don’t care about long gas lines. Jimmy Carter is a kind soul with a superior intellect who cared deeply about America’s humanitarian leadership in the world. Fact!

Plus, he had an impeccable cardigan collection — one the puts our current leadership to shame.

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Blockbuster closing Entertainment movie rental Nostalgia Streaming TC

There’s now just one Blockbuster remaining in the U.S.

sudshr47 July 13, 2018

And then there was one. With the impending closures of Blockbuster locations in Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska, just one single store will remain in the country, Anchorage Daily News reported yesterday. The two locations in Alaska will officially close their respective doors on July 16, leaving just one location in Bend, Ore. “…it is sad to […]

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Celebrities Culture Ellen Degeneres Hard Refresh Nostalgia

Ellen’s ’96 ‘Taste This’ album is the only thing that can make me laugh in Trump’s America

sudshr47 July 11, 2018

None of what the experts call self-care ever makes me feel better: not the gym, not leafy greens, not long naps.
Who came up with these options, and why are they are all so boring? As an unlicensed self-care professional, I’ll tell you what’s helping…

View More Ellen’s ’96 ‘Taste This’ album is the only thing that can make me laugh in Trump’s America
Culture Feel Good Nostalgia Toys R Us Web Culture

Somebody bought $1 million worth of toys for local kids as Toys ‘R’ Us closed for good

sudshr47 June 29, 2018

A kind samaritan made the closure of Toys ‘R’ Us a little easier for the children of North Carolina who don’t wanna grow up. 
The future youth of America will never know the overwhelming feeling of joy while running through the aisles of the gia…

View More Somebody bought $1 million worth of toys for local kids as Toys ‘R’ Us closed for good
Activision Classic Games Entertainment Nostalgia Spyro Reignited Trilogy

The ‘Spyro Reignited Trilogy’ is an absolutely gorgeous remastering of a childhood classic

sudshr47 June 12, 2018

Few memories of childhood remain as uncomplicated and joyful as the first time I played Spyro. I was nine years old. Me and my friends stayed up until 4am, huddled around the tiny CRT television and whisper-screaming expletives at the screen.
We got …

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Entertainment Feminism Nancy Drew Nostalgia You Re Old Week

Nancy Drew is the most important game series no one talks about

sudshr47 May 20, 2018

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This post is part of Mashable’s You’re Old Week. Break through the haze of nostalgia with us and see what holds up, what disappoints, and what got better with time.

I will never forget the first time I became Nancy Drew.

As a little girl, I wasn’t allowed to play video games — which meant I played video games, but only through well-executed schemes. At the crux of my early, forbidden play experiences was the Nancy Drew computer game series. I’d sneak them into the Scholastic book order forms we’d get at school, right under my parents’ noses.

While the rest of the house slept, I sleuthed until night turned into dawn. By the light of the blue screen, I squinted at hastily written notes scrawled down in a notebook about potential leads. I questioned suspects with a balance of skepticism and open mindedness, because that’s how you got to the bottom of things. Read more…

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